NCP chief Sharad Pawar's grandnephew and party leader, Rohit Pawar, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in an alleged money laundering probe on Thursday for the second time in the last eight days.
Earlier, he was summoned on January 24 when he was accompanied by Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule with party workers protesting outside the ED office.
Senior Pawar stationed himself at the party office for 11 hours until Rohit Pawar left the ED office after a day-long questioning.
Similarly, Pratibha Pawar, wife of Sharad Pawar, and Revathi Sule, daughter of Supriya Sule, today accompanied Rohit Pawar to the ED office with a huge show of strength and support of party workers outside the ED office.
Amid protest and sloganeering, Rohit Pawar attacked the BJP-led central government and said that all the opposition leaders who are speaking against BJP are being targeted by the central agencies.
"However, we will not bow down to their pressure and will continue to fight till our last breath", said the 38-year-old MLA.
Eknath Shinde faction's Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Shirsat hit back at Pawar and said that it has become a "fashion these days to stage protest and create pressure on central agencies".
"You need not fear anything if you haven't done anything wrong. Let the agency do their work to reach logical conclusions", asserted Shirsat.
The investigation is linked to the alleged scam in the Maharashtra State Co-operative (MSC) Bank, amounting to Rs 25,000 crores. Rohit's company, Baramati Agro Private Limited, is under scrutiny for purportedly manipulating the sugar factory auction process, diverting funds, and engaging in money laundering.
Meanwhile, leaders of Shiv Sena (UBT), including MLA Ravindra Waikar, former Mayor Kishori Pednekar, and Sandeep Raut (the younger brother of MP Sanjay Raut), are also facing inquiries from the ED in various corruption cases involving money laundering during the Covid period.
Published By:
Aditi Sharma
Published On:
Feb 2, 2024
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